Mark Selby is glad to see Stephen Maguire back in a ranking final after labelling his lack of success in recent years ‘an absolute tragedy, for how good he is.’
Selby beat Maguire 9-6 to win the Welsh Open on Sunday night in Llandudno, lifting the trophy for a second time, 17 years after his first.
It was a tight game through most of the contest, with Maguire making a brilliant 71 clearance to make the score 6-6, but that proved to be as good as things got for him.
The Englishman then looked very strong as the players returned from the interval and made a dash for the line, getting his hands on a 24th ranking title.
It is the third title of Selby’s season as his amazing career continues, but it was something of a resurgence for Maguire even in defeat.
The Scot had not been to a semi-final since the 2021 Welsh Open and has not won a ranking title since 2020, so to be back in the showpiece is a significant return to form, something Selby is glad to see from the six-time ranking event winner and former world number two.
‘It’s great to see him back in finals again, four years is way too long, he’s a class act and I’m one of his biggest fans. Steve, great to see you back playing well again, mate,’ Selby said in the arena after the match.
The champion added on Eurosport: ‘It’s great to see him back, he probably won’t like me saying it because he’s lost and it looks like you’re rubbing it in. But it’s great to see him playing again back on the big stage.
‘When I heard it’s four years since his last ranking semi-final, it’s an absolute tragedy, for how good he is.
‘With Stephen, I think it’s just confidence. Confidence in any sport is huge. It doesn’t matter what you’ve achieved, the confidence is the here and now in the present and he’s been struggling for confidence.
‘He’s been swapping and changing cues. Hopefully he sticks to that cue and just carries on putting the work in and we keep seeing him more and more at the business end of tournaments.’
Maguire said of his effort in Llandudno: ‘I had a good week, enjoyed myself, just came short in the end. He played well in the last three frames there. There’s nothing you can do when he’s potting all the balls. All credit to Mark.’
For Selby, he adds the Welsh Open to his wins at the British Open and Championship League Invitational this season and confidence will be high as he heads into huge tournaments.
The 41-year-old now has the World Open, Grand Prix, Players Championship and Tour Championship coming up before the World Championship in Sheffield in April, where he will undoubtedly be one of the favourites to win the world title for a fifth time.
‘It’s not a bad time to be playing well with all that coming up,’ he said.
‘Hopefully I can keep this form up. I’ll go there [Sheffield] obviously confident because the season I’ve had this year is a lot better than last year. Winning two ranking events and the Championship League, so hopefully I can keep putting the work in, working hard and give myself more chances.’
He added: ‘I’m my own worst critic, even when I’m playing ok I always think I’m not playing great.
‘This week I’ve won a lot of key frames when I’ve been 40-50 behind, when it gets down to the last red and it’s been a bit nip and tuck, I’ve won quite a few of them. In the last 6-8 months I’ve not been winning them and that’s been the difference between not going on a good run. But happy with the way I played.’
Selby is back in action at the World Open in Yushan on Sunday against Liu Hongyu while Maguire will have to wait till the World Grand Prix in Hong Kong next month as he did not qualify for the World Open.
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